PHILADELPHIA — All indications are Nerlens Noel looked good Tuesday as the Sixers began practice for the Orlando Summer League, which begins Saturday.

Practice was closed, which is standard operating procedure, so there was no first-hand view of just how well Noel and his surgically repaired left knee held up during the intense midday workout at PCOM, the first of three two-a-day sessions before the Sixers head to Orlando Friday.

As for how Noel’s viewpoint, that will have to wait for at least one more day. The 6-11 rookie center out of Kentucky was gone long before the roughly two-hour session was over.

Noel only practiced for 45 minutes before he left for what Sixers officials termed an “unspecified previous engagement.”

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The reviews, though, from coaches, players and other eyewitnesses, were positive.

“He looked good,” said Cardinal O’Hara grad and former Cornell and Boston College coach Steve Donahue, who was one of the few “outsiders” allowed to watch practice. “I recruited him and the thing about Nerlens is his basketball IQ. He’s a smart player. He knows the game. The physical stuff and skill set for this level will come, but he knows what to do on the floor.”

Sixers assistant Lloyd Pierce, who will run the team in Orlando, also liked what he saw of Noel, but reminded everyone that it was just the first day.

“It’s a long time coming for him to actually get back on the court,” Pierce said. “We want Nerlens to be Nerlens. He’s an athletic big. He runs the floor well. He’s a young player. This will be his first time at this level so (the job of the coaching staff) is to limit his thinking and allow him to play, allow him to do what he’s always done, block shots, play with energy, provide a presence and that’s what we’re going to ask of him.”

Forward Hollis Thompson, one of only two players on the Sixers’ Orlando roster with NBA experience, liked what he saw of Noel.

Thompson still felt that way even after he lost and encounter with Noel at the rim.

“I tried to dunk on him one time and he blocked it,” Thompson said.

The one player who did stand out was the Thompson, Pierce said.

“He made some shots,” Pierce said. “His team won most of the competitive drills we ran. Obviously, his maturity, he’s in a position where he was able to make some shots in the scrimmage and I think that’s from having not as much nerves in the first day of the scrimmage.”

Thompson has been down this road before. The 6-8 Georgetown product played with the Spurs in the Las Vegas Summer League last year before signing with the Sixers, where he went on to averaged 6.0 points and shoot 46 percent from the field in 77 games.

And while some players in his situation would look down on playing in the summer league again, Thompson sees it as an opportunity.

“I was going to be here in the gym working out anyway,” Thompson said. “So I’m excited to play, get some competitive games going, and I’m excited to practice with my new teammates and get better.”

NOTES: Pierce takes a young team to Orlando. The average age is 20.7 years. We’ll let Donahue put that in perspective.

“My team at Cornell (that went 29-5 and reached the Sweet 16 in 2009-10) was older than this team,” Donahue said. “We were the second-oldest (college) team in the country that year. We had seven guys 23 or older.”

The Sixers have eight players on the roster who are 23 or older. That includes guard Thomas Bader out of Oakland (Mich.) who turns 23 Wednesday.

Guard Casper Ware, who played nine games for the Sixers, is the only other player on the roster with time in the NBA. However, they’re not the only ones with professional expiernce. Guard Pierre Jackson, who was acquired in a draft day trade with New Orleans for the rights to Louisville guard Russ Smith, played in Turkey and the NBA Development League. Forward Jamelle Hagins out of Delaware also played in the D-League last year, while forward Ed Daniel played in Italy.

Forward Jerami Grant is the only draft pick on the Sixers roster for Orlando. However, the team did bring in some pretty big-name players to fill out the 14-man squad.

Among the notable free agents are Iowa State forward Melvin Ejim, Ohio State guard Aaron Craft and Saint Joseph’s forward Ronald Roberts Jr. Ejim was the Big 12 Player of the Year. He averaged 17.8 point and 8.4 rebounds for the Cyclones. Aaron Craft (Ohio State) was the NABC Defensive Player of the Year. Craft also was the two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-8 Roberts scored 1,398 points and grabbed 861 rebounds in four season on Hawk Hill. Roberts said he will play for the Miami Heat in the Las Vegas Summer League, which begins July 11.